Somewhere only we know
by sonea91
Summary: "You're the first person I have been able to talk to since I died. Everyone else just doesn't seem to notice me." - "That's because most people don't look deeply enough."


A/N: I was planning on updating „Nature vs. nurture" since I've nearly finished the next chapter there, but then I forgot to take my notes home with me. So instead, I decided to write this little one-shot. I know it's very short and an unusual pairing but I'm mainly trying to get used to writing Luna.

The title is taken from the song of the same name by Keane.

As usual, I own nothing, but reviews are always highly appreciated ;)

Merry Christmas to all of you!

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><p><strong>Somewhere only we know<strong>

A young woman was sitting on the snow-covered ground on Stoatshead Hill, overlooking the small town of Ottery St. Catchpole. She was only clad in a thin orange jumper and an old pair of jeans, her uncovered right hand absentmindedly playing with the snow by her side.

The cold did not seem to bother her, as she was staring off into space. There was a far-away expression on her face, one of calm serenity and yet if one looked closely enough they would see the pain displayed in her eyes.

It was peacefully quiet up there, the only sound that of the snow her hand was playing with. Her eyes seemed to be taking everything in and yet nothing at all.

At length, tears started trailing down her pale face, and a low chuckle left her lips. The tears became more frequent as the originally small smile on her face started to grow.

It was a strange sight to behold. There sat a young woman, her long dirty-blond hair hanging down loosely to her waist, the tips of her hair brushing across the snow-covered ground. She was clad in a bright orange jumper which clashed horribly with her hair, crying silently while smiling as if she was the happiest person on earth. Her deep grey eyes, though, told a different story. They were swirling with so much emotion that one could spend years looking at them without being able to decipher the meaning that lay hiding within them.

Slowly the tears started to ebb away. All the same, the smile on her face started to disappear. Her hands came to rest on her bent knees, as she started to whip back and forth, humming a soft melody to herself.

She stopped the whipping suddenly and sat rigid as her gaze seemed to fix on something far off in the distance. Her eyes were travelling as if following some movement, yet if one was to look in that direction they would not find anything to match the movement of her eyes.

Bells started to chime down in the town, signaling the approaching beginning of the Christmas Mass down in the local church. The young woman now looked over at the town before her gaze became unfocused once again.

Several minutes later the chiming had stopped and it was once again very quiet on the top of that hill.

"I thought I saw something earlier", the woman's voice suddenly broke the silence, her gaze still unfocused.

"So you can see me", a soft male voice asked disbelievingly.

"Of course."

There was a short silence before the male voice broke it once again. "Mind if I sit down?"

"No, I don't mind."

The silhouette of a tall, scrawny man in black wizarding robes had appeared behind the woman, a silhouette not visible to any human eye. The man was eyeing the witch in front of him curiously, while brushing his long black hair out of his face. Eventually he settled down in the snow beside her, his feet not leaving any imprint in the snow.

"Aren't you cold", he asked the woman curiously.

"No", she replied simply.

"Strange", the man murmured.

"Why", she asked, her head finally turning to face him. "You don't look like you're cold either."

"That's different", he said. The woman simply shrugged.

The two of them sat in amiable silence for a while, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

"What's your name", the man eventually asked.

"Luna", she replied. "Luna Lovegood."

"It's nice to meet you, Luna", said he. "It's been quite some time since I last talked to someone."

"I haven't talked to many people lately either", she replied.

"That's different."

"How?"

"I'm not real, Luna."

"You look real to me."

"But I'm not."

"One doesn't have to be alive to be real", she corrected him.

"So you think I am dead", he asked.

"I didn't say that", said she. "I have never met someone like you before. I only know that you are not alive. What do you think happened to you?"

"I died, I think", he replied, uncertainty colouring his voice. "And yet somehow I'm still here."

"Maybe it has something to do with how you died."

"Maybe it does", he concluded, but seemed unwilling to elaborate on the subject.

"You're the first person I have been able to talk to since I died. Everyone else just doesn't seem to notice me."

"That's because most people don't look deeply enough."

They were both silent again, Luna's gaze now fixed on the little town, as she softly started to hum 'Silent Night, Holy Night'.

"Have you ever been to church", the man asked her as he followed her gaze and recognized the only taller building visible down there.

"I went to Christmas Mass once", she replied. "It was kind of nice."

"I've never been to church", he said. "I was curious, yes, but I didn't see the point of it as I don't believe in their god anyway."

"Do you believe in god", he curiously added after a few seconds.

"Yes", she replied simply.

"But how can you be sure that he exists."

"Faith", she answered. "As long as there is at least one person that believes in Him, he exists."

The man didn't seem to know how to reply to the statement and they sat in silence for another while as he contemplated her answer.

"So, tell me something about you, Luna. Why are you up here, all alone on Christmas Eve?"

"That's because I have nowhere else to go."

"Are there no friends or family you could have spent the evening with", he inquired gently.

"My father passed away two months ago, so there is no family left. As to my friends, I didn't want to intrude on them, even though they did ask. I would have just felt out of place there, they all have their own families by now."

"But wouldn't it have been better than spending the evening all alone?"

"I'm not alone right now, am I", she said smiling slightly.

Once again the man did not know how to respond to her answer.

"It's your turn now", Luna remarked.

"My turn?"

"Yes. Your turn to tell me something about yourself."

"What do you want to know?"

Luna looked pensive for a moment. "Tell me what it's like to be that way."

"It feels strange", he said after a while. "Especially because I don't even know what exactly happened to me. The last thing I remember is some inferi pulling me down, and then, blackness. Ever since then I've just been floating around, unable to feel anything at all. Time has been sort of strange to me, I don't really notice that it's passing."

"Well, then it probably isn't", Luna remarked.

"What do you mean it isn't", asked he.

"Well, obviously time isn't moving for you. You're experiencing everything, and yet nothing at all at the same time."

"How come I am able to talk to you then?"

Luna shrugged. "Does it really matter?"

"I suppose not", he relented.

Once again both of them fell silent.

"Do you miss your father", he asked after a while.

"A lot", she said sadly. "But I know that he's with my mother now, so it's alright."

"I miss my brother", the man replied some time later. "Not the brother that I last knew, but the one I used to play with when I was little. The one I used to look up to. If there is one thing I truly regret it is that I don't have the chance to reconcile with him anymore."

"You'll see him again", Luna assured him.

"You think?"

"I know."

The man was looking at Luna inquiringly know.

"You're different", he finally stated.

"I know", she acknowledged, a sad tone to her voice.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way", he was quick to reassure her. "You're different in a good way, Luna."

"You think", she asked disbelievingly.

"I know", he said, in a strange reversal of their earlier words.

"I'd like to think we would have become friends if I was still alive," he added.

"So you're saying we can't be friends now that you're dead?"

"That's not that I meant", he objected. "I'd love to be your friend even if I'm dead."

"Good", Luna smiled, "because I'd like to be your friend as well."

They both fell silent again, sitting next to one another, both smiling while looking off into the distance. He had moved his left hand to cover her right hand and they were sitting like that for a long time.

"I – I did some very bad things, Luna", he suddenly broke the silence, a sombre expression now on his face. "Things I am not proud of."

"I know", she reassured him. "It doesn't matter."

"But it does, Luna", he said desperately. "I'm not good like you. I think this", he was pointing down to himself "me being like this is my punishment for all the things I did."

Luna grabbed his left hand with her right as he tried to move his hand away in his agitation.

"It's not a punishment", she said. "It's a second chance."

"A second chance", he said disbelievingly.

"You'll understand soon", she said, her voice insinuating that she knew things he was not yet aware of.

They had moved closer to one another know, and her head came to rest on his shoulder as his arm came to rest around her waist.

They sat like that for another long while, occasionally talking about things that came to their mind and exchanging stories of their lives. The scene looked utterly peaceful, as they seemed to be sitting there for ages and yet no time at all.

"I think I have to leave now", the man remarked eventually, sounding unhappy. "Do you think we'll see each other again?"

"I'm sure we will", Luna said.

"Good", the man smiled, shivering slightly as the breeze seemed to have picked up.

"You know, you never asked me for my name", he remarked.

"Names don't really matter", Luna shrugged. "Though it's helpful to know what to call people."

"It's Regulus", he said, as he started to shiver even more. "Regulus Black."

"Merry Christmas, Regulus."

"Merry Christmas, Luna."

With those words, Regulus' silhouette started to disintegrate, slowly disappearing, leaving no trace that he had ever been there.

Left behind was a young woman, sitting on the snow-covered ground. Her uncovered hands were playing with the snow, as she didn't seem to feel the cold at all. Her eyes had started to shine warmly with the knowledge that she wasn't alone anymore, that things were going to change.

It was peacefully quiet up there, no sound disturbing the silence and yet the air seemed to be filled with promises of things to come.

Down in the town people started to stream into the church for the beginning of the Christmas Mass.


End file.
